Timothy Eric Boswell, Baron Boswell of Aynho (born 2 December 1942) is a British politician who was formerly the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...

from 1987 until he stood down at the 2010 general election, after which he was raised to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

as a Conservative

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

Personal life

The son of a farmer, Tim Boswell was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

and New College, Oxford, where he obtained a degree in

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and a diploma in agricultural

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. Boswell was married to Helen Delahay Boswell, née Rees, for 50 years until her death in 2019. They had three daughters together including the

Victoria Prentis Victoria Mary Prentis, ( Boswell; born 24 March 1971) is a British politician who has served as the Attorney General for England and Wales since October 2022. Prentis has served as the Member of Parliament for Banbury since 2015. She is a memb ...

Political career

Conservative Party

He joined the

Conservative Research Department The Conservative Research Department (CRD) is part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It operates alongside other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters in Westminster. The CRD has been descr ...

in 1966, becoming head of the economics section in 1974. He stood for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

at the February 1974 general election in

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

but lost by 6,154 votes to

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's William Price. He was elected as the Treasurer of the Daventry Conservative Association in 1976 and subsequently its Chairman from 1979 to 1983. He became a political advisor to the

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. ...

Michael Jopling for two years from 1984.

House of Commons

Boswell was chosen to contest the Daventry constituency after the sitting Conservative MP

Reg Prentice Reginald Ernest Prentice, Baron Prentice, PC (16 July 1923 – 18 January 2001) was a British politician who held ministerial office in both Labour and Conservative Party governments. He was the most senior Labour figure ever to defect to the ...

announced his retirement. He was elected as the Conservative MP for Daventry at the 1987 general election with a majority of 19,690 and held the safe seat comfortably until his retirement from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. Tim Boswell's

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

career began unsurprisingly as a Member of the

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

Select committee in 1987. He became the

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...

Peter Lilley Peter Bruce Lilley, Baron Lilley, PC (born 23 August 1943) is a British politician and life peer who served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parl ...

in 1989. Tim Boswell entered

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

's government in 1990 as an Assistant Government Whip, following the 1992 general election he was promoted within the Whip's Office and became a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury. In December 1992, Tim Boswell was appointed

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

at the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

and moved in the same position at the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

until the Major government fell at the 1997 general election. In opposition Boswell was a spokesman on the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

in the immediate aftermath of the 1997 election defeat and became a spokesman on Trade and Industry under

William Hague William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, before speaking on Education and Employment in 1999 until after the 2001 general election. He became the spokesman for Work and Pensions under the leadership of

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was ...

, moving briefly to speak on Constitutional Affairs in 2003 under Michael Howard and back to Work and Pensions in 2004, where he remained following the 2005 general election. On 31 March 2006, Boswell announced his intention not to contest the subsequent general election, provided it did not take place unexpectedly soon. The Daventry seat was split in two at the 2010 general election, with the northern portion becoming part of a new Daventry constituency and the southern part becoming part of a

South Northamptonshire South Northamptonshire was, from 1974 to 2021, a district in Northamptonshire, England. Its council was based in the town of Towcester, first established as a settlement in Roman Britain. The population of the Local Authority District Council in ...

constituency. In May 2009, he was listed by ''The Telegraph'' as one of the "Saints" in the expenses scandal. After his retirement from the House of Commons the seat remained Conservative under Chris Heaton-Harris.

House of Lords

He was raised to the

as a Conservative

Life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

being created Baron Boswell of Aynho, of Aynho in the County of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

on 8 July 2010. In May 2012, he resigned the Conservative whip after being made Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees in the House. He also became Chairman of the

European Union Committee The European Union Committee is a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its terms of reference are "To consider European Union documents and other matters relating to the European Union", as well as "to ...

Honours

On 10 March 2016, Boswell was elected a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

(FSA). He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Northamptonshire in 2010.Deputy Lieutenant Commissions
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References

External links

ePolitix.com - Tim Boswell MP
*
Profile
on Conservative Party website
Daventry ConservativesTheyWorkForYou.com - Tim Boswell MPThe Public Whip - Tim Boswell MP
voting record
BBC News - Tim Boswell
profile 15 February 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Boswell, Tim 1942 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of New College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deputy Lieutenants of Northamptonshire Life peers created by Elizabeth II Contestants on British game shows Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Aynho